In 2009 Systemic Candida struck, and who was to know? The doctors were clueless, I was clueless. In the ensuing months, I only had confusion and dismay at not being treated medically when my body was screaming for help and no one could find the problem ... so of course it was psychiatric! This is my journey - chaotic encounters on the well-trod road of biomedicine but answers and improvement on the trails of dietary healing. I hope others may benefit from what I have discovered.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Liver Cleanse

The liver is the most important organ in the body. It cleans more than one liter of blood per minute, but if the liver is congested (in medical terms, fatty) it can no longer effectively clean the blood and there is gradually a build-up of toxins, ultimately making the person very sick. For people with candida and cancer, the liver is sadly over-crowded with toxins, for instance, dead bacteria that cannot be transported out of the body because there is so much!

Last summer a colleague lent me a book on doing a liver cleanse. Honestly, I never considered the liver as playing such an important role in the cleansing of the body from candida die-off, so the book was totally informative. The book The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse: An All-natural At-home Flush to Purify and Rejuvenate Your Body was a very good read. However, if I hadn't bumped into some of what he said earlier in my research, I might have discounted this book and its info as Andreas Moritz is a horrible grammarian, has lousy to awful punctuation and in the latter part of the book even has dyslexic and incomplete sentences. The information was great but he lost a lot of credibility by his utterly poor proofreading skills.

Anyway, I had been experiencing more and more discomfort - changeable throughout the day but more obvious after eating something with lemon juice and olive oil (which causes movement and the body's attempt at flushing of liver "stones") - and so as soon as I read the information on the gallbladder and liver flush, I knew I was going to try it to get some relief.

RECOMMENDED — For a few days to a week before the cleanse, avoid animal and dairy products and fried foods to maximize the effect of the liver cleanse. Eating food at room temperature also prevents the liver from getting chilled and reducing the effectiveness of the cleanse. During this time also, avoid taking medicines, vitamins and supplements unless absolutely necessary in order to not give the liver any extra work. The day of the cleanse or the day before, do a colon cleanse (colonic irrigation is best; colema-board irrigation is second best; a coffee-enema is third; last resorts, 2-3 day fruit and veggie diet will help clear the colon). A clear colon minimizes discomfort during the cleanse, prevents back-flushing of oil and toxins, and so helps with the swift elimination of any gall or liver stones. Cleansing the colon prior to the cleanse is highly recommended whereas cleansing out parasites first (a 3-week process) is essential (the liver cannot be cleanse if parasites reside in the body).

THE DAY OF THE CLEANSE — In the a.m. have a light breakfast that does not include sugar, dairy, meat, spices or processed foods. For lunch eat plain cooked food like steamed veggies with rice, and avoid protein, oils and fats as this requires more digestion and may cause nausea during the cleanse. Carefully follow the schedule below for best results!

2 p.m. – Stop eating and drinking

6 p.m. – Dissolve the 4 tablespoons of Epsom salts in 3 cups of water (room temp water is best so as not to chill the liver). Drink 3/4 cup or one-quarter of the preparation as quickly as possible. This will start to (further) clean out the colon as well as dilate the ducts, thanks to the magnesium in the salts. [Set out the lemons and olive oil so they will be room temperature by 10 p.m.]

8 p.m. – Drink the second portion (3/4 cup) of Epsom salts. Get everything done so that at 10 p.m. when you drink the lemon-olive-oil concoction, you can immediately go to bed.

10 p.m. – Beside your bed while still standing, drink down the lemon-olive-oil mixture and immediately lay down. Lay either on your back with your head elevated or on your right side for the oil to have its most effectiveness on the liver and gall bladder. Lay completely still. Do not talk. Try to sleep. Best results will be achieved through a relaxing, sleeping body. You will have no pain or discomfort as the magnesium has dilated the ducts and they are well lubricated with oil. If you feel nauseous during the night, either you did something wrong in prepping for the cleanse like eating heavy food, or you are detoxing too fast and the bile is back-flushing back into your stomach. Prop yourself up to prevent further back-flushing and try to sleep.

6 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. – Upon waking but not before 6 a.m., drink down the third portion (3/4 cup) of Epsom salts. It’s best to stay vertical for this evacuation time, so get up, read or move around. Go to the bathroom as needed. The Epsom salts will now help you evacuate the stones that were spilled from the gall bladder and liver during the night. Many of the stones float, so guestimate how many you are evacuating. Green stones are definitely from the liver as they are covered in liver bile; they are mostly cholesterol, come in many sizes from small to even as large as 1”, and float easily. Tan and white stones are from the gall bladder and are composed of about 10% cholesterol; when small, they float but the larger ones sink. Black and red stones may also be evacuated. Also, white chaff will appear floating on the surface and getting rid of these millions of tiny crystals is important for preventing future stones.

10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (two hours after the final Epsom salt drink) – You make have a little fruit juice (or veggie juice for people with candida). After 1 hour, you may have a piece of fruit or some veggies. By noon, you may eat a very light meal. You should be back to normal and feel the first signs of improvement by the evening or the next morning. However, continue eating light meals for a few days as your liver just had major surgery, albeit non-invasive surgery.

2 – 3 DAYS LATER, FOLLOW-UP PROCEDURE — People who do a liver flush/cleanse often have a few stones remaining in the colon. If any remain, a person may have irritation, nausea, infection, headaches, abdominal discomfort, thyroid problems, etc. as these stones become a source of toxemia to the body. The colonic irrigation is the only sure way to eliminate the remaining stones but a coffee enema followed by a warm water enema will have remarkable results. To doubly ensure the cleansing effect of the enemas, in the a.m. on the day of the follow-up colon cleanse mix 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts in a glass of warm water and drink it. Later that day do the dual enemas.

ON-GOING CLEANSES — If you evacuated stones, you will need to repeat the cleanse in 2 – 3 weeks, waiting only as long as 2 months for the next cleanse. Not continuing the cleanse and removing all the stones would probably cause more problems than if you had not done the first cleanse. You may need to cleanse anywhere from 5 – 12 times, depending on the severity of your problem and the amount of stones being evacuated. Cleanse until no more stones appear. Do not cleanse when sick though. It is recommended for liver maintenance that the liver cleanse be done twice a year.

CAUTIONS — Technically, anyone with a history of gall stones, bladder infections, etc. should not do the liver cleanse until he or she has done a bladder cleanse (see Bladder Cleanse Tea) first. Also, people with a history of colon congestion or constipation should do 2-3 colon cleanses before their first liver cleanse.

The stones that I counted are only the "floaters" and not the heavier ones that sink (like those pictured above). Some people use a wire net to find out their results, but gross, I just can't be bothered. I figure that as long as some "floaters" appear, I should continue doing flushes.

A very good after-the-flush first light meal is steamed cauliflower and broccoli and well coated with more fresh lemon juice, olive oil, lots of garlic and maybe a little sea salt. (I take a knife and quickly cut the steamed vegies into smaller pieces before putting the dressing on.) The fibrous steamed vegies will move gently through the GI track and the lemon-olive oil dressing will require a last final squeezing flush from the gallbladder and liver. After eating, try not to be stationary in order to aid the body in expulsing the detox materials. Be sure to start drinking plenty of water to aid in the GI flush and to keep the kidneys well-flushed after the heavy salt solution of the night before.

Factors affecting gall stone production include:

Natural Health Techniques offers this information and much more on gallbladder and liver stone development. This site includes signs for recognizing the stones as well as their own version of the flush.

• Obesity — the more weight you have the more likely you are to form stones.
• Excess Estrogen — increases cholesterol (a major component of gall stones) and decreases the contractions of the gall bladder.
• Ethnicity — Native Americans and Mexicans seem to be predisposed to make stones for some reason.
• Gender and Age — Women are twice as likely to get gall stones than men, and women over the age of 60 have a higher frequency as well. I’ve heard doctor’s say that anyone over the age of 40 usually has gall stones.
• Taking Cholesterol Lowering Drugs — More cholesterol is secreted in through the bile when on these types of drugs. It seems to make sense that taking natural substances to decrease cholesterol would also influence this, but I know of no scientific studies yet to show that.
• Fasting and Dieting — As the fat is mobilized, it passes through the digestive tract and therefore the gall bladder.
• Diabetes — Have higher levels of triglycerides which are passed into the gall bladder and make up bile.

15 comments:

again! what a resource! thank you so much for this post! i will definitely be sending people to this post - i am so excited with the results of my first cleanse, i will definitely be doing another (and another and another!) soon ^_^

I hope you didn't experience nausea like I did the first time. Ugh, I was propped up the last half of the night from detoxing wa-ay too fast. The pay-offs were well worth if b/c the next 3-4 days I felt very light.

A word of caution on this cleanse though, b/c of the high salts involved the kidneys can get some damage, and so after 3 cleanses a person should do kidney maintenance (a kidney cleanse is good but I also recommend a high green vegie diet, plenty of water in the lifestyle and little to no spices for a period of time, say 3-4 weeks. That said, regular lifestyle management far exceeds the commercial cleanses that are hyped by need and demand.)

Mix all and store in airtight container. Before bedtime, soak 3 heaping tablespoons in 2 cups water, cover and leave overnight. Next morning, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, and strain. Drink warm or hot in 6 – 8 portions throughout the day; do not refrigerate and do not add sweeteners. Do this for 20 days. Throughout the day, chew on bits of organic lemon rind and carrot (in opposite sides of the mouth) 30-40 times will further stimulate kidney function. Have at least 30 minutes between chewing cycles. Do not eat animal or dairy products, sweets, processed foods or foods with preservatives and coloring agents, etc. during the 20 days. Also, support the kidneys with 6-8 glasses of water per day, esp during the cleanse.

INFO—The kidneys are very delicate, blood-filtering organs that easily get congested from poor digestion, stress and irregular life-style. Congestion results in kidney stones/crystals and sand in the kidneys and bladder. This herb combination will dissolve and eliminate all types of kidney stones, including uric acid stones, oxalic acid stones, phosphate stones and amino acid stones. People with a history of kidney stones may need to repeat the cleanse a few times at 8-week intervals before the kidneys are completely clean.

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Then for 10 days, scoop out 2 tablespoons of dry herbs and add to 24 oz water, and allow to sit overnight. The next morning bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer 10 minutes before straining. Drink 2 cups daily on an empty stomach. [Also, red lapacho tree also knows as pau d-arco, ipe roxa and taheebo as well as the American Indian herb chaparral are liver cleansers.]

As of mid-August when I did my 8th liver cleanse, I can say that I am "cleaned out". I was surprised on this cleanse to get 5 or so small white floating balls (forming gallstones), but other than that, less than 10 tiny green floaters from the liver. So I no longer need to do a cleanse every 6-8 weeks, and now I can do one either at the change of each season or bi-annually just for liver and gallbladder maintenance. I'll do the latter because the epsom salt solution is very harsh on the kidneys and with my very strict diet, I don't think I'd have "enough" to detox to merit the kidney abuse. I can say that I really benefitted by this cleanse and aim to keep my liver functioning at maximum by maintaining a healthful diet, even after I'm candida-free, and with occasional liver cleanses as I see fit ... but no more than twice annually.

Hi Cheryl, thanks for your cleanse diary. I just found your blog when searching for info on the gallbladder/liver flush, and wondered if you found improvement in your skin or if you noticed any weight loss or cellulite reduction (although from your photo this does not seem relevant, but had to ask just in case as it is relevant for me! Did you do the kidney tea and where do you buy the ingredients? THANK YOU! Lyn

Actually, with the candida I've surprisingly had little to no probs with my skin and my diet has pretty much eliminated all cellulite. The flush got a bit of weight loss but that was liquid loss and doesn't count, The flush did help my digestion IMMENSELY, and boosted my energy - had to be b/c of getting rid of those heavy toxins. My eyes were clearer and I wasn't affected by gas as much, a prob with peops with candida.

I didn't do that kidney detox, but the ingredients can be bought at a health food store that stocks loose leaf herbs. Personally I avoid all kits. I tend to react and with the loose leaf stuff, I can blend what I want, eliminate things that might feed my candida, and know EXACTLY what I'm taking ... all for a reduced price. What a win-win situation!

It would be much appreciated if you could include this tool on http://systemiccandida.blogspot.com/2012/04/liver-cleanse.html and / or share with friends and followers. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Very effective writing. I have studied in an article that by using yogurt, vinegar, boric acid and garlic one can avoid yeast infection in men . Vinegar is another way to treat this illness. It is used as a natural cleanser for vagina as It has experienced by many women hence considered as most reliable cure. What is your experience?

I don't get it. Vinegar is purported to be some kind of cure-all for candida, but my experience, the info I received from Hippocrates Health Institute and I even saw in on a Dr. Oz that vinegar makes the yeast go nuts and grow wildly. The internet sure is giving out VERY CONFUSING information!!!!

Liver is master machine that runs all other machines in the body. Hence Liver cleansing and nutrients are important. Liver support herbal products helps you to cleanse the Liver so that it can absorb nutrients.

How strict?

No gluten, no soy, no corn, no sugar (except lemons, limes and avocado and a seldom tiny amount of very low-glycemic fruit), no stevia (I seem to react), low-glycemic beans (black beans, black-eyed peas and lentils; garbanzo beans, my favorite, sometimes make me bloat), and no yeast, fermentation or chemicals of any kind. Even baking soda and baking powder allowed on other candida diets for making muffins and bread make me react. Yep, we're talking ULTRA STRICT! Try making tasty food with these constraints ... but I'm getting better at it! And I'm feeling awesome with 95+% of the symptoms controlled!

Disclaimer

The content in this blog is not for practicing medicine or treating any illness but is strictly a source of information on what one person has done and is doing to fight the candida battle. The person (myself) plans to triumph over the evil monster, but forging the way to health unfortunately is taking more energy - and hopefully less time - than the years of coffee-guzzling, sleep loss, stress and an inadequately nourishing diet took to create the problem.